1. Field of the Invention
The device of this invention resides in the field of guns and more particularly relates to a lightweight, self-powered, short recoil-operated 40 mm machine gun for the launching of grenades.
2. Description of the Prior Art
40 mm machine guns for launching grenades exist in the prior art, but they are heavy guns with recoiling masses that are a small percentage of their total weight. These heavy guns must be supported by several personnel, and high trunnion forces require that the gun must be securely mounted. The current state-of-the-art MK19 40 mm gun has a 17 lb bolt and an assembly weight of 71 lbs. Therefore the recoiling mass of the MK19 represents only 24% of its assembly weight.